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In 2014, China introduced an ultra-low emissions (ULE) standards policy for renovating coal-fired power-generating units to limit SO2, NOX and PM emissions to 35, 50 and 10 mg m-3, respectively. The ULE standard policy had ambitious levels (surpassing those of all other countries) and implementation timeline. We estimate emission reductions associated with the ULE policy by constructing a nationwide, unit-level, hourly-frequency emissions dataset using data from a continuous emission monitoring systems network covering 96-98% of Chinese thermal power capacity during 2014-2017. We find that between 2014 and 2017 China’s annual power emissions of SO2, NOX and PM dropped by 65%, 60% and 72%, respectively. Our estimated emissions using actual monitoring data are 18-92% below other recent estimates. We detail the technologies used to meet the ULE standards and the determinants of compliance, underscoring the importance of ex-post evaluation and providing insights for other countries wishing to reduce their power emissions.

Petroleum coke, a non-environmentally friendly energy source, is gradually replacing other power fuels in China's industrial enterprises because of its price advantage. Petroleum coke has high emission factors and thus emits more greenhouse gases (GHGs) and air pollutants than even raw coal. This study first examines the rapid growth of petroleum coke consumption in China since 2010 by industry sector and region and then estimates the petroleum coke-related emissions. We conclude that the total consumption of petroleum coke increased by 18.9% from 2010 to 2016 and that the industry final consumption for burning in boilers increased dramatically (by 158.2%). Petroleum coke-related CO 2 emissions reached 28 million tonnes in 2016, whereas CH 4 and N 2 O emissions totaled 870 and 143 tonnes, respectively. The increased use of petroleum coke will increase the urgency for the development of climate change mitigation and emissions reduction measures in China. We propose several possible policy suggestions for petroleum coke management and emissions control, such as strongly restricting the production and import of high-sulphur petroleum coke, as well as burning petroleum coke to provide power; more power plants and industrial kiln stoves/boilers should be equipped with efficient decontamination systems; the development of advanced industrial processes and the clean utilization of petroleum coke should be encouraged.

Over the past decade, China has entered a “new normal” phase in economic development, with its role in global trade flows changing significantly. This study estimates the driving forces of Chinese export‐embodied carbon emissions in the new normal phase, based on environmentally extended multiregional input‐output modeling and structural decomposition analysis. We find that Chinese export‐embodied CO2 emissions peaked in 2008 at a level of 1,657 million tones. The subsequent decline in CO2 emissions was mainly due to the changing structure of Chinese production. The peak in Chinese export‐embodied emissions is encouraging from the perspective of global climate change mitigation, as it implies downward pressure on global CO2 emissions. However, more attention should focus on ensuring that countries that may partly replace China as major production bases increase their exports using low‐carbon inputs.

Energy consumption is one of main reasons for global warming and highly correlated with economic development. As the largest energy consumer worldwide, China has entered a new economic development model – the "new normal". This study aims to explore the pattern shift in China's energy consumption growth in this new development phase. We use structural decomposition analysis (SDA) and environmentally extended input‐output analysis (EEIOA) to decompose China's energy consumption changes during 2005‐2012 into five factors: population, efficiency, production structure, consumption patterns, and consumption volume. During the period of the global financial crisis, the energy consumption generated by China's exports dropped, while the energy consumption generated by capital formation grew rapidly. Over three quarters of China's energy consumption growth was caused by capital formation during 2007‐2010. This growth is mainly because of China's economic stimulus measures in response to the global recession, with a focus on infrastructure construction. In the new normal, the strongest factors offsetting China's energy consumption have been shifting from efficiency gains to structural changes. Efficiency gains were the strongest factor offsetting China's energy consumption in traditional development model and offset 42% of energy consumption between 2005 and 2010 by keeping other driving forces constant. Since 2010, however, their effects offsetting energy have become weak. The production structure and consumption patterns both drove China's energy consumption growth in the traditional development model and drove energy consumption growth by 31% and 12% between 2005 and 2010, respectively. Since 2010, however, both factors have started to offset China's energy consumption.